Caleb recieves his first big haircut

Our friends came to spend some time with us from Vancouver and he was able to help us give Caleb his haircut. Tom's dad was able to give Caleb his first hair trim and now he has also had his first cut. Here are some pictures.



Caleb before his haircut!





Caleb after and during the last 10 minutes of his haircut
He wore himself crying but then decided it was so bad after all and fell to sleep.

Shad and Caleb after his nap. Caleb was so proud of his haircut and kept pointing to his hair and say Shad did it with big smiles. He loves looking in the mirror at his new look.

Christmas Celebrations

During all of our snow days we were able to find time to do some baking and decorating sugar cookies together. The girls were a little sad because of the snow days because they missed all of their school parties. But we had our own little fun party together.
All the kids hard at work making the perfect cookie.

All the kids kicking back for their picture

Christmas eve it is our tradition to have a spaghetti dinner (homemade by tom and the kids) and have our friends over to celebrate Jesus birthday

I'm Back

Having some fun in the snow!
What a handsome boy all dressed up


Okay so I have been the worst blogger ever. Life around here has been full of energy and fun. We are becoming adjusted to life with 2 year old. I can't believe that we have been home now for four and half months.

This weekend we received a big snow storm so the schools have been closed and also the clinic that I work at is closed. So we are home wrapping presents, baking and getting caught up on household things. My husband went to work today but said that it was a mess trying to get there.

Caleb is getting into this Christmas, he really enjoyed decorating the tree but still does not understand the present thing. He looks at the presents but has not touched any of them. He also has discovered snow this weekend and absolutely loves it. The only thing he doesn't like about it is wearing gloves, he could do without those.

Now that I am back I will be trying to post updated pictures and reports about every two weeks or so. Here is some pictures for you to enjoy.

We Arrive in Addis Ababa

Well I think that it is about time to write about our trip to Ethiopia. We seen a lot and processed a lot of different things we saw there. So this is to you, Sandy (thanks for the encouragement)

We arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on July 17th at about 10:00pm, 40 hours after leaving our house. Needless to say we were exhausted. We then had to go through customs, exchange money and get our visas, that took about an 1.5 hours. We were then met by one of the staff members Tamirat who took us and the other families to our hotel. When we arrived at the hotel there were men there they helped us carry our luggage (I mean they carried our luggage) up to our room. Yes , they carried it up 2 fights of stairs because there are no elevators. I really did not think that we were going to be able to sleep because of the excitement of meeting Caleb in the morning. But as soon as my head hit that pillow I was asleep and even though the bed was as hard as a rock it didn't seem to bother me to much that first night. We woke up the next morning and prepared to meet our son for the first time.

So this is how our trip started out. Stay tuned and I will be posting each day about a day of our trip, we had a fabulous time and will be sharing some wonderful pictures with you.

He Loves Swimming

Daddy with all the kids :)

Caleb getting in the pool and loving it!

Caleb eating ice-cream for the first time

Melissa "Issa" (my best friend) and Caleb

Ready, Set, Slide

Caleb swinging on the swing

So yesterday we did a lot of firsts with Caleb. The first one being going to the park to play. He loved it. His two favorite parts were swinging and going down the slide. The best part of the park was that my best friend and her kids came with us. Caleb said her name and gave her hugs and kisses, she was so excited. The second thing he did was to eat ice cream. He was very shocked by the coldness at first but then decided that he loved it as long as you gave him very small bits. He ate almost a whole bowl by himself (thanks Nicolle, we love you!)The last thing we did was to should introduce Caleb to our friends and to their swimming pool. He absolutely loves to swim. He has no fear though, so we can never take our eyes off of him. He loves to splash and laughs when he gets water in his face. After we were in the pool about 5 minutes he started shaking and his teeth were chattering. But like any other kid he did not want to get out of the pool and would start crying if we tried to take him out. It was a blast watching him discover something else new. We all are loving this little man that God chose for us, and love watching him grow and discover new things. God is such an awesome God.

We're Home

Us meeting our son for the first time.

Caleb mimicking the dog and playing with their toys

Our beautiful son

Sorry it has taken so long to post this entry, but life has become very busy with a two year old little boy running around. We arrived home on Friday night about midnight and the girls were so excited to meet their new little brother. It was wonderful. The two older girls cried so hard when they first met them I started crying with them. And Alli was just smiling from ear to ear. It was fun having the girls, my parents and my best friend meet us at the airport with welcome home signs and big hugs. We love you guys!!

In Ethiopia we had a fabulous time and the couples that we met over there were great. It was so wonderful being around people that had such passion about adoption. We seen a lot of stuff and are still trying to process everything, so keep checking the blog and I will be posting a summary of our trip for everyone. Yes even with some pictures.

Caleb is adjusting very well with everyone. He loves to wrestle with his sister and playing catch. He now will call Tom and I mommy and daddy and identifies who is who. He also loves to mimic everything we do and say, so I don't think it will be long and he will be speaking English. He is not quite adjusted to the dogs yet but he will try to play with them for a few minutes before he gets scared and runs away. Well I hear someone waking up so I will update more later.

The Cutest Boy!!

So we are sitting here in the Minneapolis airport waiting for the last leg of our 36 hour journey. We are ready to be home and see everyone and introduce our little man to everyone. I can not post a current picture of us because our cable is packed in our luggage but here is a picture that we received about one week before we left. We love him so much and our love grows everyday.

Traveling Home

We are in Detroit and anxiously ready to get home. Caleb Tariku did great on the plane, but the line to get through customs and verify his paperwork, etc. was a bit much for him. He definately had enough waiting. Tom decided to take him for a "run" around the airport and wear him out for the next leg of the trip. What a great dad!!

We are so ready to sleep in our own bed, and be a family all together! Home will be soooo great!! Please pray for us as we finish our travels today. Caleb had a little motion sickness at the beginning, and we are hoping that he doesn't get sick again. Parenthood can be messy sometimes, but so completely worth it!

"I Love You"

Today was a hard day saying good bye to everyone. Tariku said I love you mommy and daddy today, so exciting.

We are loading the van to go to the airport and are ready to get back home. Thank you for your prayers while we have been away, and we covet them as we finish this last bit of traveling. We will soon be home with out entire family. We are looking forward to being all together with the girls, extended family and church family. Thanks again for all of your prayers.

"Mommy & Daddy"

Well today we had our visa interview and the final stamp of approval the he is coming home with us. We should receive his visa and passport on Thursday and morning and should be home late Friday night. He has totally opened up to us and called us mommy and daddy today. We went to the visa interview and then a celebration lunch. Caleb ate really well and then proceeded to throw up everywhere at the restaurant. (It was the third child that threw up today) We are having a blast and absolutely loving Ethiopia. I can't even explain the poverty that we have seen. Every time I look in the streets and see a little 3 or 4 year old walking the street I thank God that He has blessed us with Caleb. We did get a chance to buy some coffee today and the coffee here is better than you can ever imagine.

Full Time Parents Now!

We are so happy to tell you that Caleb is now with us all the time. He is adjusting very well and we are loving being his full time parents now. We are all having a wonderful time. Thanks for praying for us. We have our embassy appointment in a few days, so please pray for that process and our safe travels home at the end of the week.

An Encouraging Day

Hi everyone, What a busy day. We spent the morning with Caleb Tariku. I think the extra time helped us get past his initial fear. We got to see him laughing and playing. I (Tom) really enjoyed playing catch with him. He fell asleep sitting in Leanne's lap. Today was very encouraging, but tomorrow the center is closed and we won't get to see him. They will keep us busy with church and then a trip out of Addis to a resort.

We also spent the afternoon touring downtown Addis, going to the Museum of National History, and doing some shopping. We bought some coffee, but I'm still looking for a shop that roast it as you buy it. Tonight we went out to eat with 6 other Holt families. We ate at a traditional Ethiopian restaraunt. There was a great buffet with injera ( a traditional Ethiopian flat bread) and traditional dancing (they dance, not us). It was a great day but very long.

We are still working on sending pictures.

Caleb is in our arms!!

We are here in Africa. It was a very long flight and got to our hotel at about 11:30pm on Thursday night. The traffic is crazy everybody goes everywhere and they honk their horn at the time. We were able to sleep last night because we were so exhausted then woke up and met all the other families and ate breakfast. After that we were able to meet Tariku (Caleb). It was so incredible, they had him walk down the stairs by himself to greet us. He was scared and cried for a moment but warmed up when we started playing with him. After about 45 minutes with him he crawled in my lap and fell asleep in my arms (I was overjoyed). Tom got to feed him lunch and then lay him down for his nap. He is very quiet so far and very precious.

This is such an amazing place. Pictures could be difficult to post because of the internet connection and power outages, but we will try. Thanks for praying.

We're Off

So we left today to fly to Ethiopia to pick up our most amazing son. We are sitting here in Minneapolis waiting for our flight to amsterdam. This flight will last 8.5 hours so hopefully we can get some sleep on this flight. We have had 7 hours of sleep in the last three days so hopefully we can do some catch up. We will be trying to update our blog as often as we can so keep checking to get the updates. Please keep us in your prayers for save travel and an easy transition for us and Caleb. Also keep the girls in your prayers as we are away.

Update On Our Sweet Little Man

We received some updated information from a couple that just came home from Ethiopia and had a chance to meet our son. This email just made my day and we can't wait to go and get him and surround him with our love. So this is what is said.

"He is the sweetest child and so adorable with a big heart. He has a very even temper and is eager to have someone pay attention to him and play with him. He loves to be read to and loves the peek a boo books."

I guess I know some things that we will be buying him for the plane trip home.

2 weeks today and we will be on our way to pick him up.

Travel Dates

Some more news..............See those happy faces!!!!

Today we recieved word that we DO have a confirmed embassy appointment on July 22. Talk about the need to get tickets and FAST!

We are just thrilled! It looks like we will be leaving on the 16th of July and then heading home on the 26th of July. There is a little clinch in getting Caleb's return ticket but that should all be figure out by tomorrow morning and then the tickets will actually be purchased.

We covet your prayers as we work on packing and logistics of the process.

COURT APPROVAL!!!!!

YIPPPPEEEE!! We received word yesterday (6-24-08) that we were court approved to become Tariku's (Caleb) parents. He is officially our son/brother. We couldn't be more excited!! What an exciting day that was. Our agency also told us that they had checked the Ethiopian government and all of our paperwork for travel is there and we are ready to go. We could possibly be leaving in July to go and pick him up. Right now I am feeling overwhelmed with so much to do. So I better go and get started.

Today's Court Date

Well today was our court date, but due to some paperwork issues our case was not heard by the federal court in Ethiopia. Our case, along with other families from our agency, will be rescheduled for sometime hopefully next week. We should hear more on Monday. This was disappointing news for us, but we know that God is in control and His timing is best. Also last night as I was lying in bed praying about our court hearing I heard God's voice say to me, "Be Still and know that I AM God." That has given me the comfort that I needed today. Please continue to pray for us as we continue our process.

COURT DATE!!!

We received an email from our agency today that we have been scheduled for a court date on June 19. Please keep us in our prayers as we approach this day. There is that chance that we will not pass court due to many different circumstances in Ethiopia. One step closer!

So Adorable

The other day we were sitting at the dinner table talking about how our life is going to change with adding a little boy to our family. We were talking about buying him toys and his bedding and what we thought that he would like to play with while on that long plane ride. Then all the sudden my youngest child said, "What is going to happen if he loses one of his toys on the plane."

Me: He will probably cry.
A: Will he cry in his own language.
Me: No we cry and laugh in the same language
A: Wow we will understand him when he is sad and happy.

She was so happy that even though he will speak in a different language that there are some things that we will understand with each other. It was absolutely adorable conversation.

Why Caleb

Tom here. I have been happy to let Leanne write her blogs to this point, but thought I should share the significance (at least to me) of the name we have chosen for our son. In Numbers 13 we find that Caleb is one of the twelve spies chosen by Moses to scout out the Promise Land. Caleb, along with Joshua, are the only spies that encouraged the people to follow through with God's plan. The other ten spies were afraid of the giants that lived in the land. Caleb and Joshua's faith was based on their belief that the conquest of the Promise Land was dependent on God's power, not their own. No matter how many or how big the giants were, their God was bigger. Because of their faith, they were the only two men of their generation to survive the forty years in the wilderness and enter the Promise Land. In Joshua 14 we find the rest of the story. Forty five years later the giants in the Promise Land still needed to be defeated. At 85 years of age Caleb once again steps up to volunteer to fight the giants. He is still confident that his God is bigger than any giant. His declaration of faith is found in verse 8- 'for my part, I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.'
Caleb, both the companion of Joshua and the little boy in an Ethiopian orphanage, remind me that my God is bigger than any giant I might face. There is no wait long enough, no ocean wide enough, no financial obligation large enough to defeat my God. One day I will hold the son God has promised me and I will know- for my part, I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.

WE GOT OUR REFERRAL

Sorry it has taken a couple days to post this but we have been busy celebrating our beautiful little boy that God has blessed us with.

Thursday was the most amazing day. So this is how it all went. I was home from work with some sick kids and my mom and her friend were coming into town to help us get our house ready so we could put it up for sale. My mom arrived at about 11:05 and I started helping her unload all the goodies (baked goods, food, etc. thanks mom we love your cooking.) Well as I'm unloading things my phone rings but I can not get to it in time, they leave a message. When I hear Pat voice from our agency my heart starts to beat faster and my knees start going weak. I hear her say, "Leanne I have some good news for you, we have a little boy for you who is 2 years old." I get off the phone and start crying and screaming, and tell my mom what is going on. I can't believe that I receive this call only 10 minutes after my mom arrives at my house. God timing is so perfect! I then call my husband and he asks for more details and I do not have them because I forgot to call Pat back and get more info. So I call Pat and she emails all the information to us. We get ready and go and get the kids from school and go to get the email together. What an amazing day! A day we will never forget! So we have a beautiful little 2 year old boy who we already love and adore. Hopefully we will be able to travel before the courts close. I can not post any pictures of him until after we pass court and he is legally ours.

Jesus Paid the Ultimate Price

I friend of mine at work gave me a CD the other day with this song from Kelly Couch. It is called, Brought with a Price:
As I listened to this the first time it reminds me of my longing to bring our little guy home and how he has been growing in my heart a little more each and every day. But also how this could be Jesus speaking to us and how He longs for relationship with us and how He paid the ultimate cost -His Life- just so we wouldn't have to. How He longs to walk with us hand in hand. Just picture that in your head, it brings chill bumps to me to think that All Mighty God, longs to have this kind of relationship with me.

My child how I've long to hold you in my arms
To finally say that you're mine all mine
You don't know how much you have lived in my heart
No matter the cost, I had to find a way to bring you home.

There's no distance too far
No road so long I wouldn't travel
No price I wouldn't pay
To look in your eyes, see you smile
Put your hand in mine
You don't have to be afraid
You're not alone anymore
The price was paid

For so long, you've been living your life on your own
No one to care, no one to share your hopes and your fears
Don't you know that my heart's always been with you
Just close your eyes, my sweet child,imagine me with you
I'm right there with you.

I feel that I am losing my marbles

No news on the adoption front.


So I thought that waiting would be the easy part of this adoption process. I thought no more running here and there to get the paperwork done. Little did I know how wrong that I would be. THIS HAS BEEN THE HARDEST PART. I feel that I have lost my marbles in the waiting process, and my paitence are running very thin (not that I had a whole lot to start). We have been waiting 12 weeks now and I really thought that we would have a referral by now. Sorry about the complaining I'm just ready to meet my little man that God has for us. Come on phone please ring.

Dossier to Ethiopia

We received an email from our agency stating the our dossier is off to Ethiopia and should be there by Thursday. It will then be translated in Amharic and ready to go to court when we receive our referral.

Continue to pray for us as we wait for our referral.

Waiting - Week 7

Many of you have joined us in our journey of this adoption process and we are now in the season of waiting to see who God has planned to join our family. Everyone reacts to waiting in different way. Sometimes I find myself being anxious and impatient and Tom seems to be composed and resolved. Tom is such a great husband and father, but also such a Godly example to everyone during this process. He truly amazes me. I love him so much and thank God every day for him and his relationship with our Heavenly Father. During my times of anxiousness and impatience, I have found some verses that I can take great comfort in. The first one being Isaiah 40:31

Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
Isaiah 40:31

There is a tendency to worry, become weary, and wrestle with all the unknowns. But what a comfort it is to know that when we wait for the Lord, we'll gain NEW strength.

And the second one is Habakkuk 2:3

For the revelation awaits an appointed time
it speaks of the end and will not prove false.
Though it lingers, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.

Habakkuk 2:3

This verse just reminds me that God knows the perfect time and that He will not allow us to wait a minute to long. God truly is in Control.

Reflection of a mothers heart

Reflections of a mother's heart

Sweet child of mine . . . how often my thoughts are of you. I wonder where you are today ... if there is someone to hold you and comfort you ... if you are hungry. How I long to be with you. It seems we've labored for so long now, to bring you home. There were times I didn't think I could do any more ... but each time I would think of you and knew you were counting on us to keep going. What joy fills our hearts to know you'll be part of our family. Our hearts also grieve over all you've lost already. I cannot give you back that which has been lost ... but I promise you that with the Lord's help we will share everything that is within us with you for a lifetime.

For now we wait. We wait with great expectation that you are being found, cared for and loved by the One who created you. Some day, my child ... they will call us and we will gaze upon your picture and prepare to travel to your homeland and welcome you into our arms. So many details we must trust the Lord for on this journey. Your life is a gift and one in which we treasure and embrace. We want you to know how much you are loved and how we long to see you.

Week 3

Yes, we have now been waiting for three weeks. This week seemed to be harder than the first two but we made it through. I did talk with our agency today and she said hopefully in the next few months we should receive our referral. So I guess we should get use to waiting. We still have not received our I 171H form, sometimes I feel like I am stalking the mailbox to see if it arrived. Still more waiting.. it seems like we have done a lot of this during this process. But today God kept bringing to mind the verse in Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." This verse has been so encouraging to me because God has shown Himself in so many ways to our family and I know that He is in control and He knows what the best timing for our referral is. Thanks to everyone for their prayers and encouraging words while we play the waiting game.

Passports

Tom and I received our passports on Friday January 25. We are only waiting for one more piece of paper I 171H form. This form says that as a orphan he will become an immediate family member. We have almost been waiting for our referral for 1 week.

Waiting

We were officially placed on waiting list to receive a referral for our child. Currently, the wait time to receive a referral can be up to five months.

Yep you got it, we are officially waiting for our son!!! Do I need to tell you how excited I am???? Today the stressful waiting starts. First we wait and pray for a quick referral. Then we have a picture of our little man and we wait and pray for a fast court date. THEN WE TRAVEL!!!

Please continue to pray for us during waiting time. Thank you to everyone for all your prayers and reference letters and support during all the paperwork stage. YEAH! we are now done with paperwork!!

Getting Closer

So, Tom and I finished our paperwork on our end of things. We are now waiting for our approval of our I-600A and for the secretary of state to certify some paper. After we receive these papers are dossier will be sent to our agency and we will be put on the waiting list for a child referral. I can not believe how fast things are going. We serve an awesome God! It looks like possible travel in late April!

One of the most asked questions that we have received during this adoption process has been, "How much does it cost." Lately I have been thinking about the cost in a different way.


Our child will have suffered more in his short life than we have ever, and, by God's grace, hopefully ever will. Our child, through the lens of two, three or four years of childhood, perhaps will have witnessed the death of his parents; will have perhaps been forced to wander the streets for food and shelter; will perhaps have been taken in by a stranger and then dropped in an orphanage where there is no familiar sound, smell or smile -- he will have experienced the kind of fear that causes you to close your eyes to shut out the desperate world around him. Adoption will have cost him everything.

I've heard several people comment that our child is so "lucky" to be adopted by our family or how "good" we are to be "doing this." I understand the heart of these comments -- and honestly, I think before I really started learning about children who have been orphaned, I probably would have had the same thoughts -- but when we stop to think about it, NO child is lucky to be adopted, because to be adopted one must first be orphaned.

What adoption is, however, is God's hand of love and grace and mercy on a child who, through no fault of their own, has lived in the depths of our fallen world where tragedy and death are realities. Adoption has nothing to do with US and it has everything to do with God. This is not a story of what WE are doing. It is a story of what GOD is doing. God loves this child SO much that He is giving him a second family. For reasons I do not necessarily understand, God has chosen our family to be part of HIS plan for HIS child. As a result, God is putting HIS love in our hearts for HIS child. We will love him as our own. But he is not lucky and we are not good. We are, however, both loved beyond measure by our Father in Heaven and we are being used by Him to fulfill His perfect plan for us.

I also think about what adoption cost our Heavenly Father, His one and only Son Jesus Christ. Yet He was willing to undergo that cost for us, and He did it with joy! What pain and loss that God must have experienced, and yet He delighted in bringing us into His family. The adoption journey is not easy, but every hour of turmoil, every obstacle encountered, every tear shed, every sleepless night are all just a shadow of the price that God paid for us.

Our adoption cost us nothing, but cost God His Son. And this is how we know what love is.

Please keep praying for us as we take this journey to get our son in Ethiopia that God has hand picked for us